This Quarter’s Penn-Mar Pride Winners Announced

December 17, 2015

PENN-MAR P.R.I.D.E.

Announcing, this quarter’s PRIDE award winners! The following winners will be invited to the annual P.R.I.D.E. luncheon with the Management Team. During this occasion, there will be an award presentation, their framed certificates will be given out and pictures will be taken. Please congratulate these PRIDE winners when you see them! Here are the winners and why they were chosen:

Linda Goode

(1st nomination) Linda is very much an asset to Penn-Mar Human Services by giving her all to the company and those we serve. She has a heart to serve and always has a willingness to do whatever she can to offer assistance to whomever may need it. Linda spends countless hours to be sure that our company is financially on point. Her dedication and work ethic show that she demonstrates all of Penn-Mar’s core values each and every day!

(2nd nomination) Not long ago, Linda felt our department could benefit from a team building exercise. We took the afternoon (at a very busy time) and ended up learning a little more about each other. After the experience, the whole department is now able to better appreciate each other’s unique talents, skills, abilities and opinions. Most importantly, she is available every day with a smile to support and encourage us in each other’s work to further the mission here at Penn-Mar. No matter what, she puts in whatever time is needed to get the job done.

Pat Leuchtenberger Selfless is how I describe my Program Manager. She is everybody’s “run to person” and she is always willing to help. She is an excellent Program Manager because she does a lot of extraordinary things for staff and our individuals. She respects everyone and is always has a positive outlook. Pat is very professional with her decisions for the growth and betterment of everyone. Her dedication to Penn-Mar is amazing. She is always grateful and very generous in giving appreciation and encouragement to her staff. She is very open, understanding and down to earth. Pat readily assists with any task whether it be direct care, or the typical responsibilities associated with her position. She practices our core values with grace and pride. Her contagious smile is welcoming, as she offers encouragement, challenges, and inspiration. Pat is a great blessing to all of Penn-Mar!

Erika Harman has worked at CLA 22 for several years. She takes pride in her job and goes above and beyond her regular tasks. She gets her 40 hours in in three days. That, in itself, is a feat. She is extremely organized and takes excellent care of our gentlemen. Erika cares about each one and it shows, they love her dearly! She is a positive influence, providing necessary structure throughout each day. Erika ensures holidays are festive, with the decorations the individuals like. She also planned an Elvis themed party to surprise one of the individuals she supports. Erika deserves special recognition for her Excellence!

Abby Brenneman has recently noticed that an individual she supports appears sad at meal times. This individual has been unable to consume anything by mouth for the last two years due to the diagnosis of dysphagia. Abby reached out to her physician and requested further testing to see if this individual would now have the ability to tolerate food/liquid by mouth. It is because of Abby’s request for further evaluations that this individual is once again able to enjoy meal time. Abby deserves to be recognized for her courage to advocate for the individuals she supports. Abby always strives to better the lives of the individuals.

Hope Schneider is dedicated to caring for our individuals. She also helps other staff to ensure all the individuals in their care are well taken care of. On their outings she brings fun sports or game equipment for them to enjoy, especially when they go to parks. Hope ensures individuals with challenging behaviors are given the opportunity to participate in activities in the community, keeping safety as a priority. She always puts the interest of her individuals first, and she plans outings that are appropriate for the individuals. She deeply cares for them and treats her individuals like a family. She is a peacemaker in the program, she works well with her team. She does not complain, Hope works with joy and a smile. She approaches challenges with a positive attitude. Hope has initiative and she works with integrity. She is a friend to all, and everybody loves working with her. Her work ethics are admirable and she represents the organization with pride from the inside out.

Melinda Robinson The team of Nelian, Angela and Lyn did an amazing job preparing individuals for and performing at the annual dinner. They made a song selection that showcased talents, spent time practicing, and personally accompanied the individuals in the performance. They even took the extra step in having all singers wear gloves so that one particular individual did not stand out because she always wears them. I am so proud of their efforts to help the individuals shine!

Connie Welsh has gone above and beyond to begin the process of switching everyone who has a Yahoo email to the “new” penn-mar.org email address. She is working directly with John Y to make sure every employee gets updated correctly and added to the right group in our email database. This is a long, tedious process that is going to take some time to complete, but Connie has taken this project head on. She is also doing a great job at communicating to employees the email changes and is always able to help troubleshoot any problems or questions they may have. We are extremely fortunate to have Connie as part of our team!

Walter McCarthy has had quite a time here of late. There have been several injuries in his program. Each time he has been very attentive, in one instance an ER visit resulted in a minor injury diagnosis. Walter thought this was not correct, so he made an appointment for an Ortho to see the individual. As it turned out the individual had a pretty significant injury. Had Walter accepted the first diagnosis, this individual would have been in significant pain and more damage may have been done. Walter absolutely demonstrated the core value of excellence in his pursuit of a correct diagnosis.

Chanda Brown-Miller is our full time AON at CLA 20. She always helps out when possible. When our part time AON resigned Chanda picked up a lot of the extra hours. She is always willing to come in early to relieve a staff or assist with an appointment int the morning. These show Chanda’s excellence and collaboration. She was also spotted recently by another staff practicing very safe driving skills. Demonstrating safe practices for our individuals is another way Chanda shows her Excellence.

Charlotte Quante volunteered to be the co presenter, when Chair had a family conflict. Charlotte stepped up without hesitation, she did an excellent job in front of a daunting crowd of 600 attendees. Charlotte was flexible and understanding with the many script rewrites. Charlotte did a wonderful job collaborating with the individuals and facilitating their participating in the presentation.

David Tasker is always willing to help in times of need. Dave is never satisfied to have his house running smoothly. He would prefer to help in programs that are short staffed or in need of guidance. He demonstrates Penn-Mar’s core value of Excellence by being an example to staff in any program in which he works. He is able to walk into any program and complete any task asked of him, as well as completing tasks he wasn’t asked to do, like monthly paperwork. Dave also demonstrates the core value of Collaboration by always being willing and eager to step into any program that needs help. He does this by moving his own personal schedule around in order to help. He also collaborates in other programs by being able to train staff in other programs. In closing, I feel that Dave has taken steps to show what true Penn-Mar PRIDE is, and he exhibits this daily.